But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26
I was praying this A.M. and the LORD reminded me of Lot’s wife who, after being told not to, looked back to see what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah. This also brings to mind the forty years that Israel wandered in the wilderness, because they would not stop remembering those good old times when they had eaten of the fruit of Egypt. And it also reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3 about forgetting those things that are behind and pressing forward to the great high calling of GOD in Christ.
We all have a past, and sometimes that past haunts us and causes us to belittle ourselves and keeps us down, away from achieving our life’s potential. All our potential is in Christ and being led by the HOLY SPIRIT in the quest to be conformed to the image of GOD’S Son Jesus Christ. If we, like Israel in the desert, continually look back we cannot enter into the Promised Land nor can we find the rest of Christ that is found in knowing that through HIS blood we have been forgiven and all the past is forgotten. When we continue to look behind us, as Lot’s wife, we become paralyzed with regret and guilt, and in essence become immobile, like a pillar of salt. But that is not GOD’S plan for us, HE wants us to move forward and push on to something better, for HE has plans for us, for the good and not bad, just as HE did when HE took Israel out of Egypt.
What is it that haunts you that GOD has not forgiven? If you have trusted Christ as your savior and have sought forgiveness then by faith it is yours. But if you continually listen to the flesh and Satan who is the accuser of the brethren then you have no peace and you have no rest. Not only that but you make GOD out to be a liar, for HE says that HE will give you rest and that your sin is as far away as the east is from the west. When we ask the LORD to forgive us it is paramount that we also forgive us and make peace with those things that we have done or have been done to us. There are no good old times, for those times were also fraught with evil and, of course, we tend to forget that.
GOD is not the god of the past, HE is the GOD of Now and the future, and HE has a plan for each of us if we will receive it. GOD knows the past, present, and future, but HE does not live in the past. Now we know that HE has not made any mistakes and has no guilt, and that is the way he wants us to be, without guilt, even though we have made mistakes in our lives, the Blood of Christ covers them and when the LORD looks at us HE sees us through the Blood of Christ and GOD declares us righteous, for the Covering is what makes us righteous. That is not to say that because we are declared righteous by GOD that we have anything to be prideful about. All of our righteousness is a gift and not of our own works, they are result of Christ’s work and the finished word that HE did on the Cross. This should humble us, knowing that GOD, who is Creator, took time to provide a way for us to have righteousness restored, that was lost in the fall of Adam. If we boast then let us boast in Christ and HIS obedience, let us boast in what GOD has done and not in our own works, which are like dung on the dung heap.
If there is something in your past that is troubling you, take time today and pray and leave it at the foot of the Cross. Jesus said to come to HIM those of us who are tired and heavy burdens and that HE would give us rest. Lay down you burdens for you cannot carry them, they are too heavy and the price for them has already been paid. If we leave them at Calvary then they are where they belong. Enter into the rest that Christ provides, resting in the assurance that HE is carrying the burdens that weigh us down. Cast your cares upon HIM for HE cares for you. HE has paid the price for sin, and has risen to provide intercession for us to the FATHER against the accuser of the brethren.
Proverbs says that anxiety in a man’s heart causes depression. If we have anxiety about tomorrow are we really trusting in the Promise? So here is what we do, we can’t forget the past and keep reliving it, and it produces fear of the future because it robs us of our assurance that GOD truly has forgiven us. These are the tactics of an enemy and not an advocate. Are we more righteous than GOD that we should hold on to what GOD has said is finished? That is what we are saying, that we should be punished for something we did, when the punishment has already been dealt out to Christ who took our punishment for us. Forgiveness from GOD is All. No amount of beating ourselves up will add to the forgiveness already given. You are forgiven or you are not, there is no middle ground. If you confess your sin GOD is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9. Do you believe that? John tells us that if we say we have no sin then we make GOD to be a liar and the truth is not in us, but if we have confessed our sin and asked for forgiveness then we, by faith, have been justified, or just as if we had never sinned. End of story, those sins are gone just like yesterday and cannot be recovered except as learning tools. Oh yes we look back at them in wonder and humility remembering that we are forgiven, not in continual punishment and torment. There is no torment in Love and GOD is LOVE.
The Bible is a light unto our path and we are to look ahead and live in the now, Now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and walk according to the Spirit, Romans 8:1. If GOD does not condemn you then should you condemn yourself?
If you have not received Christ as your Savior, what’s holding you up? Salvation is free as a gift, from GOD who loves you right where you are warts and all. Ask HIM into your heart today and begin the journey that leads to eternity with HIM. Better to be with one who loves than with one who hates.
Until next time, thanks for looking. al
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